2000 Tandragee killings
Encyclopedia
The Tandragee killings took place in the early hours of Saturday 19 February 2000 on an isolated country road outside Tandragee, County Armagh
, Northern Ireland
. Two teenaged Protestant boys, Andrew Robb and David McIlwaine were savagely beaten and repeatedly stabbed to death in what was part of an internecine feud
between the loyalist
Ulster Volunteer Force
(UVF) and their rivals, the breakaway Loyalist Volunteer Force
(LVF). The young men, however were not members of any loyalist paramilitary organisation. It later emerged in court hearings that Robb had made disparaging remarks about the death of UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade
leader Richard Jameson
who had been fatally shot by a LVF gunman the previous month. This had angered the killers, themselves members of the Mid-Ulster UVF, and in retaliation they had lured the boys to the remote lane on the outskirts of town, where they killed and mutilated them.
Three men had carried out the double killing: Stephen Leslie Brown (also known as Stephen Leslie Revels), Noel Dillon, and Mark Burcombe. On 3 April 2009, Brown was sentenced to 35 years imprisonment for each count of murder. Dillon had committed suicide in January 2005, and Burcombe, originally charged with the killings, had turned 'Queen's evidence' by testifying against Brown and therefore received a reduced sentence. The trial judge Mr Justice Gillen stated that the murders, perpetrated 22 months after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, were "among the most gruesome of the past 40 years". Both teenagers had sustained penetrating and multiple knife wounds inflicted by a butcher's knife which nearly decapitated them. Additionally Brown had stabbed McIlwaine deeply in his left eye.
The UVF's Brigade Staff (Belfast leadership) had not sanctioned the killings.
(UVF) and the Loyalist Volunteer Force
(LVF) began when a brawl broke out in the Portadown F.C.
Society Club on 27 December 1999. The leader of the UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade
, Richard Jameson
, had been jostled and insulted by members of the LVF who had been holding a celebration at the club to commemorate the second anniversary of the shooting death of their former leader, the iconic Billy Wright
. Wright had founded the LVF in 1996 after he and the Portadown unit of the Mid-Ulster Brigade had been stood down by the UVF's Brigade Staff following an unauthorised sectarian killing carried out by his men during the Drumcree standoff
. In December 1997 Wright was shot dead inside the Maze Prison by the Irish National Liberation Army
(INLA).
Shortly after Jameson left the club, he returned with a number of UVF men armed with baseball bats and pickaxe handles. A violent altercation broke out in which 12 people were seriously injured including three LVF prisoners out on Christmas parole. The LVF decided to retaliate and sent a gunman to assassinate Jameson in the driveway outside his home on 10 January 2000. The UVF's Brigade Staff in Belfast immediately convened a war council at "the Eagle", their headquarters over a chip shop on the Shankill Road, where they discussed plans to avenge Jameson's killing. The LVF's leader, Mark "Swinger" Fulton
, who was imprisoned at the time, claimed to no avail that his organisation had not been involved in the shooting.
, had left "The Spot" nightclub in Tandragee together with three others after spending Friday night out. The group of three men and two women had attempted to enter a taxi, but regulations had stipulated that not more than four passengers could travel together, so Robb and McIlwaine got out of the vehicle and went off in search of a house party. The pair knocked on the door of a house in Sinton Park belonging to Mid-Ulster UVF member Stephen Leslie Brown (19, also known as "Stephen Leslie Revels") and were invited inside where other UVF members Noel Dillon (older brother of Brown's girlfriend) and Mark Burcombe (19) were also present. Alcoholic beverages were consumed at the party.
The atmosphere inside the house suddenly turned ugly when Dillon asked the teenagers what they felt about the LVF killing of UVF Mid-Ulster brigadier Richard Jameson, who had been a successful businessman and was extremely popular in the Portadown area. McIlwaine remained silent, however Robb had replied "so fucking what, it's got fuck all to do with me" which Dillon had taken exception to. When he informed Robb that Jameson had been his good friend, Robb had made further disparaging comments which also angered Brown. Brown, out of earshot of the teenagers, had decided to assault Robb in retaliation, saying he would "punch the head off Andrew". Neither Robb nor McIlwaine had been a member of any loyalist paramilitary organisation, although Robb had tenuous links to the LVF having been an associate of Billy Wright, and even photographed in his presence. Writers Henry McDonald
and Ian S. Wood alleged that, unknown to the teenagers, a UVF unit had gone to "The Spot" to seek out two known LVF individuals rumoured to have been involved in Jameson's killing; however, they had already left the nightclub by the time the UVF arrived. The UVF men encountered Robb and McIlwaine instead, and targeted them as LVF members implicated in Jameson's death.
along with Dillon and Burcombe. Brown drove off towards Druminure Road where he stopped the car at a gate leading to a field and ordered the passengers to get out. Burcombe led McIlwaine away from the vehicle; as they were walking downhill, Burcombe informed McIlwaine that the other two men were going to "give Andrew Robb a beating for slabbering about Richard Jameson. Don't worry about it, it's nothing to do with you". Brown and Dillon proceeded to attack Robb with a series of savage kicks that knocked all of his teeth out. He was then stabbed deeply in the abdomen and throat, and died instantly.
The two perpetrators returned, both "walking with a swagger" to where McIlwaine waited downhill from the parked car with Burcombe. McIlwaine at that moment made an attempt to run away but Brown, Dillon, and Burcombe caught up with him as he fell to the ground. Brown launched a succession of forceful kicks upon his body and head; McIlwaine tried to stand up, but was knocked down again by a ferocious kick to the side of his head. Dillon produced a butcher's knife, kneeled down and with a sawing motion, cut McIlwaine's throat while Brown shouted "kill the bastard, cut his fucking throat". Burcombe overlooked the scene from about five feet away.
Brown and Dillon left McIlwaine still breathing on the ground and once they were back in his car, Brown told the others he would drive over his head. Dillon dissauded him from doing so, but instead Brown halted the car, took the butcher knife from Dillon, got out and walked over to McIlwaine, who was lying on the road, making a wheezing sound. Brown began to repeatedly stab McIlwaine in the chest and face. Some of the facial flesh was torn away, leaving the skull visible. McIlwaine's hands were sliced to pieces as he made a vain attempt to ward off the knife thrusts. Brown noticed that McIlwaine was looking up at him; he then plunged his knife deeply into McIlwaine's left eye, afterwards claiming that it sounded like "gutting a fish" and had thought it would take McIlwaine's entire head with it when he pulled the blade out. The wound had penetrated McIlwaine's brain.
After he had killed McIlwaine, Brown rushed back to the car where Dillon and Burcombe were waiting. According to Burcombe's later testimony, he appeared "crazed" as he handed the knife back to Dillon and said he was "buzzing"; he subsequently went on to describe the grisly details of stabbing McIlwaine in the eye. He threatened to cut Burcombe's throat or kill a member of his family if he told anyone what happened.
had assumed that McIlwaine had received a shotgun blast to his face. Both of their throats were slashed so deeply that the teenagers were nearly decapitated. The RUC immediately set up an inquiry into the killings. Post mortems revealed that Robb had sustained a severe cut throat injury to the neck and a penetrating wound to the abdomen with three penetrating wounds. There were no defence injuries. McIlwaine received a severe cut throat injury, seven penetrating wounds to the chest and penetrating wounds to the face and to the left eye. Both teenagers were intoxicated at the time of their deaths.
The killings deeply shocked the community and were strongly condemned by local politicians. The young men's funerals attracted hundreds of mourners; they were buried in adjacent graves at Kernan Cemetery in Portadown. Ulster Democratic Party
representative John White
and Johnny Adair
, the Ulster Defence Association
's (UDA) "C Company" West Belfast Brigade
commander both attended Robb's funeral, whereas Democratic Unionist Party
(DUP) assemblyman Paul Berry
and Richard Jameson's brother Bobby attended McIlwaine's. After the attacks Adair branded the UVF "Protestant killers" and even produced a news-sheet in which he listed McIlwaine and Robb as Protestant victims of the UVF along with the likes of the murdered Frankie Curry
and regular targets Jackie Mahood, Kenny McClinton
and Clifford Peeples
.
The UVF Brigade Staff in Belfast had not sanctioned the killings of Robb and McIlwaine. Although in the weeks prior to the teenagers' deaths, the UVF leadership had put much pressure on the Mid-Ulster Brigade to find the LVF men responsible for Jameson's shooting, and had threatened to send a team from Belfast "to do the job for them" if they didn't hit back against the LVF quickly enough. The LVF leadership, however maintained that the blame for the killings "lies at the door of the Eagle"; a reference to the Brigade Staff headquarters on the Shankill Road. It then threatened to strike back against carefully selected targets in the Belfast UVF.
. In April 2001, Mark Burcombe was arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Acts in relation to his UVF activities, but was released with having been charged with any offence.
David McIlwaine's father, Paul campaigned for nine years to obtain justice for his son. He enlisted the aid of a nationalist
human rights group and set up his own online support group, "Justice for David McIlwaine". He alleged that the police were protecting the identity of a local Tandragee UVF commander (now deceased), who was reportedly present at the scene of the crime and was working as an agent for RUC Special Branch
. He had been a close friend of Richard Jameson and had allegedly vowed to seek revenge against the LVF for his assassination. In 2005, the UVF Brigade Staff had conducted an internal investigation into the killings.
On 2 November 2005, the Tandragee double killing was televised and reconstructed on the BBC One
programme Crimewatch
in which a £10,000 award was offered. After viewing the programme Mark Burcombe consulted a clergyman and solicitor, and subsequently presented himself to police outside Hillsborough Castle
to give them information regarding the events which had taken place on 19 February 2000. He was interviewed about the killings over a period of four days and admitted to having known both Robb and McIlwaine. He was arrested and charged with the murders along with Stephen Brown, who had also been arrested on 7 November 2005 in connection with the double killing. When Detective Chief Inspector
Tim Hanley charged Brown with the murders, the latter pleaded not guilty to each charge. Noel Dillon had committed suicide in January of that same year. In January 2008, shortly before his trial was due to start, Burcombe decided to turn "Queen's evidence". He formally agreed to admit to and give a full account of his own role in the murders and to give evidence against Stephen Brown.
Burcombe pleaded guilty to the offence of conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm to Andrew Robb and was sentenced to 28 months imprisonment with two months consecutive for an unrelated suspended sentence. The Robb and McIlwaine families were outraged and disappointed at the leniency shown to Burcombe. Sinn Fein
president Gerry Adams
asked Patricia Scotland, Baroness Scotland of Asthal
, the Attorney General for Northern Ireland
to review the case and consider an appeal to impose a heavier sentence, writing that "all records before the courts on this crime verify it was a barbaric act". Adams also went on to affirm that he shared the McIlwaine family's belief that a state agent was involved in the killings and was being protected. Baroness Scotland, however, backed the plea bargain deal.
Stephen Brown was found guilty of the murders on 3 March 2009. The trial which had commenced on 25 November 2008 was held at the Belfast Crown Court without a jury
. The prosecution had relied upon three pieces of evidence to prove Brown's culpability. These were the testimony of Mark Burcombe, who had witnessed McIlwaine's killing and had been present at Robb's killing; the forensic material found by the RUC at the crime scene (including DNA samples found on McIlwaine's jacket which matched Brown's); the hearsay evidence of Brown's former girlfriend who claimed he had admitted to her that he had killed McIlwaine.
One month later, 3 April, Brown was sentenced to 35 years imprisonment for each count of murder. The trial judge, who had passed sentence on Brown, declared that the murders were "among the most gruesome of the past 40 years". He went on to add, "they represent unbridled mindless violence and a total disregard for the value and dignity of human life": Brown made an unsuccessful appeal to have his murder conviction overturned on 24 May 2011.
County Armagh
-History:Ancient Armagh was the territory of the Ulaid before the fourth century AD. It was ruled by the Red Branch, whose capital was Emain Macha near Armagh. The site, and subsequently the city, were named after the goddess Macha...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
. Two teenaged Protestant boys, Andrew Robb and David McIlwaine were savagely beaten and repeatedly stabbed to death in what was part of an internecine feud
Loyalist feud
A loyalist feud refers to any of the sporadic feuds which have erupted almost routinely between Northern Ireland's various loyalist paramilitary groups since they were founded shortly before and after the religious/political conflict known as The Troubles broke out in the late 1960s...
between the loyalist
Ulster loyalism
Ulster loyalism is an ideology that is opposed to a united Ireland. It can mean either support for upholding Northern Ireland's status as a constituent part of the United Kingdom , support for Northern Ireland independence, or support for loyalist paramilitaries...
Ulster Volunteer Force
Ulster Volunteer Force
The Ulster Volunteer Force is a loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in late 1965 or early 1966 and named after the Ulster Volunteer Force of 1913. The group's volunteers undertook an armed campaign of almost thirty years during The Troubles...
(UVF) and their rivals, the breakaway Loyalist Volunteer Force
Loyalist Volunteer Force
The Loyalist Volunteer Force is a loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed by Billy Wright in 1996 when he and the Portadown unit of the Ulster Volunteer Force's Mid-Ulster Brigade was stood down by the UVF leadership. He had been the commander of the Mid-Ulster Brigade. The...
(LVF). The young men, however were not members of any loyalist paramilitary organisation. It later emerged in court hearings that Robb had made disparaging remarks about the death of UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade
UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade
UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade formed part of the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force in Northern Ireland. The brigade was established in Lurgan, County Armagh in 1972 by its first commander Billy Hanna. The unit operated mainly around the Lurgan and Portadown areas. Subsequent leaders of the...
leader Richard Jameson
Richard Jameson (loyalist)
Richard Jameson , was a Northern Irish businessman and loyalist, who served as the leader of the paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force's Mid-Ulster Brigade...
who had been fatally shot by a LVF gunman the previous month. This had angered the killers, themselves members of the Mid-Ulster UVF, and in retaliation they had lured the boys to the remote lane on the outskirts of town, where they killed and mutilated them.
Three men had carried out the double killing: Stephen Leslie Brown (also known as Stephen Leslie Revels), Noel Dillon, and Mark Burcombe. On 3 April 2009, Brown was sentenced to 35 years imprisonment for each count of murder. Dillon had committed suicide in January 2005, and Burcombe, originally charged with the killings, had turned 'Queen's evidence' by testifying against Brown and therefore received a reduced sentence. The trial judge Mr Justice Gillen stated that the murders, perpetrated 22 months after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, were "among the most gruesome of the past 40 years". Both teenagers had sustained penetrating and multiple knife wounds inflicted by a butcher's knife which nearly decapitated them. Additionally Brown had stabbed McIlwaine deeply in his left eye.
The UVF's Brigade Staff (Belfast leadership) had not sanctioned the killings.
Background to the killings
The origins of the lethal 2000-2001 loyalist feud which erupted between the Ulster Volunteer ForceUlster Volunteer Force
The Ulster Volunteer Force is a loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in late 1965 or early 1966 and named after the Ulster Volunteer Force of 1913. The group's volunteers undertook an armed campaign of almost thirty years during The Troubles...
(UVF) and the Loyalist Volunteer Force
Loyalist Volunteer Force
The Loyalist Volunteer Force is a loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed by Billy Wright in 1996 when he and the Portadown unit of the Ulster Volunteer Force's Mid-Ulster Brigade was stood down by the UVF leadership. He had been the commander of the Mid-Ulster Brigade. The...
(LVF) began when a brawl broke out in the Portadown F.C.
Portadown F.C.
Portadown F.C. is a semi-professional, Northern Irish football club which plays in the IFA Premiership.The club was founded in the late 1880s and joined the Irish League in 1924. It is based in Portadown in County Armagh and plays its home games at Shamrock Park...
Society Club on 27 December 1999. The leader of the UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade
UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade
UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade formed part of the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force in Northern Ireland. The brigade was established in Lurgan, County Armagh in 1972 by its first commander Billy Hanna. The unit operated mainly around the Lurgan and Portadown areas. Subsequent leaders of the...
, Richard Jameson
Richard Jameson (loyalist)
Richard Jameson , was a Northern Irish businessman and loyalist, who served as the leader of the paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force's Mid-Ulster Brigade...
, had been jostled and insulted by members of the LVF who had been holding a celebration at the club to commemorate the second anniversary of the shooting death of their former leader, the iconic Billy Wright
Billy Wright (loyalist)
William Stephen "Billy" Wright was a prominent Ulster loyalist during the period of violent religious/political conflict known as "The Troubles". He joined the Ulster Volunteer Force in 1975 and became commander of its Mid-Ulster Brigade in the early 1990s...
. Wright had founded the LVF in 1996 after he and the Portadown unit of the Mid-Ulster Brigade had been stood down by the UVF's Brigade Staff following an unauthorised sectarian killing carried out by his men during the Drumcree standoff
Drumcree conflict
The Drumcree conflict or Drumcree standoff is an ongoing dispute over a yearly parade in the town of Portadown, Northern Ireland. The dispute is between the Orange Order and local residents. The residents are currently represented by the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition ; before 1995 they were...
. In December 1997 Wright was shot dead inside the Maze Prison by the Irish National Liberation Army
Irish National Liberation Army
The Irish National Liberation Army or INLA is an Irish republican socialist paramilitary group that was formed on 8 December 1974. Its goal is to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and create a socialist united Ireland....
(INLA).
Shortly after Jameson left the club, he returned with a number of UVF men armed with baseball bats and pickaxe handles. A violent altercation broke out in which 12 people were seriously injured including three LVF prisoners out on Christmas parole. The LVF decided to retaliate and sent a gunman to assassinate Jameson in the driveway outside his home on 10 January 2000. The UVF's Brigade Staff in Belfast immediately convened a war council at "the Eagle", their headquarters over a chip shop on the Shankill Road, where they discussed plans to avenge Jameson's killing. The LVF's leader, Mark "Swinger" Fulton
Mark Fulton (loyalist)
Mark "Swinger" Fulton was a Northern Irish loyalist. He was the leader of the Loyalist Volunteer Force , having taken over its command following the killing of the paramilitary organisation's founder, Billy Wright, in the Maze Prison in 1997 by members of the Irish National Liberation Army .Fulton...
, who was imprisoned at the time, claimed to no avail that his organisation had not been involved in the shooting.
Events leading up to the attacks
At 1.30 a.m. on Saturday 19 February 2000, Protestant acquaintances, Andrew Robb, a 19-year-old unmarried father, and David McIlwaine, an 18-year-old graphic design student, both of PortadownPortadown
Portadown is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town sits on the River Bann in the north of the county, about 23 miles south-west of Belfast...
, had left "The Spot" nightclub in Tandragee together with three others after spending Friday night out. The group of three men and two women had attempted to enter a taxi, but regulations had stipulated that not more than four passengers could travel together, so Robb and McIlwaine got out of the vehicle and went off in search of a house party. The pair knocked on the door of a house in Sinton Park belonging to Mid-Ulster UVF member Stephen Leslie Brown (19, also known as "Stephen Leslie Revels") and were invited inside where other UVF members Noel Dillon (older brother of Brown's girlfriend) and Mark Burcombe (19) were also present. Alcoholic beverages were consumed at the party.
The atmosphere inside the house suddenly turned ugly when Dillon asked the teenagers what they felt about the LVF killing of UVF Mid-Ulster brigadier Richard Jameson, who had been a successful businessman and was extremely popular in the Portadown area. McIlwaine remained silent, however Robb had replied "so fucking what, it's got fuck all to do with me" which Dillon had taken exception to. When he informed Robb that Jameson had been his good friend, Robb had made further disparaging comments which also angered Brown. Brown, out of earshot of the teenagers, had decided to assault Robb in retaliation, saying he would "punch the head off Andrew". Neither Robb nor McIlwaine had been a member of any loyalist paramilitary organisation, although Robb had tenuous links to the LVF having been an associate of Billy Wright, and even photographed in his presence. Writers Henry McDonald
Henry McDonald (writer)
Henry McDonald is a writer and is the Irish editor for The Observer, the sister paper of The Guardian.McDonald has written extensively about The Troubles, its precedents, its consequences, its demographics, and such. He was born in the nationalist Markets area of Belfast and attended St. Malachy's...
and Ian S. Wood alleged that, unknown to the teenagers, a UVF unit had gone to "The Spot" to seek out two known LVF individuals rumoured to have been involved in Jameson's killing; however, they had already left the nightclub by the time the UVF arrived. The UVF men encountered Robb and McIlwaine instead, and targeted them as LVF members implicated in Jameson's death.
The attacks
Under the pretence of another party elsewhere, Brown lured Robb and McIlwaine to get into his red Peugeot 205Peugeot 205
The Peugeot 205 is a supermini produced by the French car manufacturer Peugeot between 1983 and 1998. It was declared 'Car of the Decade' by CAR magazine in 1990. The 205 won 1984 What Car? car of the year.-History:...
along with Dillon and Burcombe. Brown drove off towards Druminure Road where he stopped the car at a gate leading to a field and ordered the passengers to get out. Burcombe led McIlwaine away from the vehicle; as they were walking downhill, Burcombe informed McIlwaine that the other two men were going to "give Andrew Robb a beating for slabbering about Richard Jameson. Don't worry about it, it's nothing to do with you". Brown and Dillon proceeded to attack Robb with a series of savage kicks that knocked all of his teeth out. He was then stabbed deeply in the abdomen and throat, and died instantly.
The two perpetrators returned, both "walking with a swagger" to where McIlwaine waited downhill from the parked car with Burcombe. McIlwaine at that moment made an attempt to run away but Brown, Dillon, and Burcombe caught up with him as he fell to the ground. Brown launched a succession of forceful kicks upon his body and head; McIlwaine tried to stand up, but was knocked down again by a ferocious kick to the side of his head. Dillon produced a butcher's knife, kneeled down and with a sawing motion, cut McIlwaine's throat while Brown shouted "kill the bastard, cut his fucking throat". Burcombe overlooked the scene from about five feet away.
Brown and Dillon left McIlwaine still breathing on the ground and once they were back in his car, Brown told the others he would drive over his head. Dillon dissauded him from doing so, but instead Brown halted the car, took the butcher knife from Dillon, got out and walked over to McIlwaine, who was lying on the road, making a wheezing sound. Brown began to repeatedly stab McIlwaine in the chest and face. Some of the facial flesh was torn away, leaving the skull visible. McIlwaine's hands were sliced to pieces as he made a vain attempt to ward off the knife thrusts. Brown noticed that McIlwaine was looking up at him; he then plunged his knife deeply into McIlwaine's left eye, afterwards claiming that it sounded like "gutting a fish" and had thought it would take McIlwaine's entire head with it when he pulled the blade out. The wound had penetrated McIlwaine's brain.
After he had killed McIlwaine, Brown rushed back to the car where Dillon and Burcombe were waiting. According to Burcombe's later testimony, he appeared "crazed" as he handed the knife back to Dillon and said he was "buzzing"; he subsequently went on to describe the grisly details of stabbing McIlwaine in the eye. He threatened to cut Burcombe's throat or kill a member of his family if he told anyone what happened.
Aftermath
Several hours later at 9.30 a.m., the mutilated bodies of Robb and McIlwaine were discovered lying in pools of blood on the roadside 100 metres apart from one another by a woman taking her children to dancing lessons. Because of the devastating stab wounds inflicted upon the teenagers, the RUCRoyal Ulster Constabulary
The Royal Ulster Constabulary was the name of the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2000. Following the awarding of the George Cross in 2000, it was subsequently known as the Royal Ulster Constabulary GC. It was founded on 1 June 1922 out of the Royal Irish Constabulary...
had assumed that McIlwaine had received a shotgun blast to his face. Both of their throats were slashed so deeply that the teenagers were nearly decapitated. The RUC immediately set up an inquiry into the killings. Post mortems revealed that Robb had sustained a severe cut throat injury to the neck and a penetrating wound to the abdomen with three penetrating wounds. There were no defence injuries. McIlwaine received a severe cut throat injury, seven penetrating wounds to the chest and penetrating wounds to the face and to the left eye. Both teenagers were intoxicated at the time of their deaths.
The killings deeply shocked the community and were strongly condemned by local politicians. The young men's funerals attracted hundreds of mourners; they were buried in adjacent graves at Kernan Cemetery in Portadown. Ulster Democratic Party
Ulster Democratic Party
The Ulster Democratic Party was a small loyalist political party in Northern Ireland. It was established in June 1981 as the Ulster Loyalist Democratic Party by the Ulster Defence Association to replace their New Ulster Political Research Group...
representative John White
John White (loyalist)
John White is a former leading loyalist in Northern Ireland. He was sometimes known by the nickname 'Coco'. White was a leading figure in the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Defence Association and, following a prison sentence for murder, entered politics as a central figure in the Ulster Democratic...
and Johnny Adair
Johnny Adair
Jonathan Adair, better known as Johnny "Mad Dog" Adair is the former leader of the "C Company", 2nd Battalion Shankill Road, West Belfast Brigade of the "Ulster Freedom Fighters" . This was a cover name used by the Ulster Defence Association , an Ulster loyalist paramilitary organisation...
, the Ulster Defence Association
Ulster Defence Association
The Ulster Defence Association is the largest although not the deadliest loyalist paramilitary and vigilante group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 and undertook a campaign of almost twenty-four years during "The Troubles"...
's (UDA) "C Company" West Belfast Brigade
UDA West Belfast Brigade
The UDA West Belfast Brigade is the section of the Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary group the Ulster Defence Association based in the western quarter of Belfast in the Greater Shankill area...
commander both attended Robb's funeral, whereas Democratic Unionist Party
Democratic Unionist Party
The Democratic Unionist Party is the larger of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland. Founded by Ian Paisley and currently led by Peter Robinson, it is currently the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly and the fourth-largest party in the House of Commons of the...
(DUP) assemblyman Paul Berry
Paul Berry
Paul 'London' Berry is a Northern Ireland unionist politician.Berry was born in Craigavon, County Armagh, and brought up in Tandragee, where he was educated at local state schools and colleges, following which he was employed in the textile industry...
and Richard Jameson's brother Bobby attended McIlwaine's. After the attacks Adair branded the UVF "Protestant killers" and even produced a news-sheet in which he listed McIlwaine and Robb as Protestant victims of the UVF along with the likes of the murdered Frankie Curry
Frankie Curry
Frankie Curry nicknamed "Pigface", was an Ulster loyalist who was involved with a number of paramilitary groups during his long career...
and regular targets Jackie Mahood, Kenny McClinton
Kenny McClinton
Kenneth McClinton is a Northern Irish pastor and sometime political activist. During his early years McClinton was an active member of the Ulster Defence Association...
and Clifford Peeples
Clifford Peeples
Clifford Peeples is a Northern Irish pastor who has been associated with Ulster loyalist activity...
.
The UVF Brigade Staff in Belfast had not sanctioned the killings of Robb and McIlwaine. Although in the weeks prior to the teenagers' deaths, the UVF leadership had put much pressure on the Mid-Ulster Brigade to find the LVF men responsible for Jameson's shooting, and had threatened to send a team from Belfast "to do the job for them" if they didn't hit back against the LVF quickly enough. The LVF leadership, however maintained that the blame for the killings "lies at the door of the Eagle"; a reference to the Brigade Staff headquarters on the Shankill Road. It then threatened to strike back against carefully selected targets in the Belfast UVF.
Arrests and allegations
The day after the killings, a number of people were arrested in connection to the crime, including Noel Dillon. The arrests were not made under anti-terrorist legislation and the suspects were all released unconditionally the same evening. On 27 February 2000, Stephen Brown was brought before the Armagh magistrates court having been charged with both murders. The police told the court they had plenty of forensic evidence connecting him to the killings. Ten months later, Brown was released on bail after the court was told the prosecution had expressed doubts about their principal witness and the forensic evidence was not sufficent to secure a conviction. On 6 February 2001 the charges against Brown were unexpectedly dropped by the Director of Public ProsecutionsDirector of Public Prosecutions
The Director of Public Prosecutions is the officer charged with the prosecution of criminal offences in several criminal jurisdictions around the world...
. In April 2001, Mark Burcombe was arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Acts in relation to his UVF activities, but was released with having been charged with any offence.
David McIlwaine's father, Paul campaigned for nine years to obtain justice for his son. He enlisted the aid of a nationalist
Irish nationalism
Irish nationalism manifests itself in political and social movements and in sentiment inspired by a love for Irish culture, language and history, and as a sense of pride in Ireland and in the Irish people...
human rights group and set up his own online support group, "Justice for David McIlwaine". He alleged that the police were protecting the identity of a local Tandragee UVF commander (now deceased), who was reportedly present at the scene of the crime and was working as an agent for RUC Special Branch
Special Branch
Special Branch is a label customarily used to identify units responsible for matters of national security in British and Commonwealth police forces, as well as in the Royal Thai Police...
. He had been a close friend of Richard Jameson and had allegedly vowed to seek revenge against the LVF for his assassination. In 2005, the UVF Brigade Staff had conducted an internal investigation into the killings.
On 2 November 2005, the Tandragee double killing was televised and reconstructed on the BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
programme Crimewatch
Crimewatch
Crimewatch is a long-running and high-profile British television programme produced by the BBC, that reconstructs major unsolved crimes with a view to gaining information from the members of the public. The programme is usually broadcast once a month on BBC One...
in which a £10,000 award was offered. After viewing the programme Mark Burcombe consulted a clergyman and solicitor, and subsequently presented himself to police outside Hillsborough Castle
Hillsborough Castle
Hillsborough Castle is an official government residence in Northern Ireland. It is the residence of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and the official residence in Northern Ireland of HM Queen Elizabeth II The Secretary of State combines two roles...
to give them information regarding the events which had taken place on 19 February 2000. He was interviewed about the killings over a period of four days and admitted to having known both Robb and McIlwaine. He was arrested and charged with the murders along with Stephen Brown, who had also been arrested on 7 November 2005 in connection with the double killing. When Detective Chief Inspector
Chief inspector
Chief inspector is a rank used in police forces which follow the British model. In countries outside Britain, it is sometimes referred to as chief inspector of police .-Australia:...
Tim Hanley charged Brown with the murders, the latter pleaded not guilty to each charge. Noel Dillon had committed suicide in January of that same year. In January 2008, shortly before his trial was due to start, Burcombe decided to turn "Queen's evidence". He formally agreed to admit to and give a full account of his own role in the murders and to give evidence against Stephen Brown.
Convictions
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
president Gerry Adams
Gerry Adams
Gerry Adams is an Irish republican politician and Teachta Dála for the constituency of Louth. From 1983 to 1992 and from 1997 to 2011, he was an abstentionist Westminster Member of Parliament for Belfast West. He is the president of Sinn Féin, the second largest political party in Northern...
asked Patricia Scotland, Baroness Scotland of Asthal
Patricia Scotland, Baroness Scotland of Asthal
Patricia Janet, Baroness Scotland of Asthal, PC, QC is a British barrister, and served in many ministerial positions within the UK Government, most notably as the Attorney General for England and Wales and Advocate General for Northern Ireland.-Early life and career:Baroness Scotland was born in...
, the Attorney General for Northern Ireland
Attorney General for Northern Ireland
The Attorney General for Northern Ireland is the chief legal adviser to the Northern Ireland Executive for both civil and criminal matters that fall within the devolved powers of the Northern Ireland Assembly....
to review the case and consider an appeal to impose a heavier sentence, writing that "all records before the courts on this crime verify it was a barbaric act". Adams also went on to affirm that he shared the McIlwaine family's belief that a state agent was involved in the killings and was being protected. Baroness Scotland, however, backed the plea bargain deal.
Stephen Brown was found guilty of the murders on 3 March 2009. The trial which had commenced on 25 November 2008 was held at the Belfast Crown Court without a jury
Diplock courts
The Diplock courts were a type of court established by the Government of the United Kingdom in Northern Ireland on 8 August 1973, in an attempt to overcome widespread jury intimidation associated with the Troubles. The right to trial by jury was suspended for certain "scheduled offences" and the...
. The prosecution had relied upon three pieces of evidence to prove Brown's culpability. These were the testimony of Mark Burcombe, who had witnessed McIlwaine's killing and had been present at Robb's killing; the forensic material found by the RUC at the crime scene (including DNA samples found on McIlwaine's jacket which matched Brown's); the hearsay evidence of Brown's former girlfriend who claimed he had admitted to her that he had killed McIlwaine.
One month later, 3 April, Brown was sentenced to 35 years imprisonment for each count of murder. The trial judge, who had passed sentence on Brown, declared that the murders were "among the most gruesome of the past 40 years". He went on to add, "they represent unbridled mindless violence and a total disregard for the value and dignity of human life": Brown made an unsuccessful appeal to have his murder conviction overturned on 24 May 2011.